At this moment, the unconscious Jin Ling suddenly sat up.

In front of the two of them, he staggered up from the ground with his eyes closed. Wei Wuxian wanted to see what he was going to do, so he didn't move. He saw him slowly walk around him, take one leg out, step back into the wall, and stand back to where he was just buried. His hands were flat on his sides, and even his posture was exactly the same as before.

Wei Wuxian pulled him out of the wall again, feeling amused and strange. He was about to tell Lan Wangji that it was not a good place to stay for long when he was startled by a burst of furious barking from afar. The black-maned spirit dog had been sitting obediently at the entrance of the cave, wagging its tail, anxiously and pitifully waiting for them to bring its master out since they entered. It had not barked again, but now it was barking more fiercely than ever before.

Lan Wangji said, “There’s something strange outside the castle.”

He reached out to help Jin Ling, but Wei Wuxian took the lead and carried him on his back, saying, “Go out and take a look!”

The two quickly returned the same way. As soon as they crouched down and walked out of the cave, they saw the black-maned spirit dog with its back to them, heading in one direction, making a low snoring sound from the bottom of its throat. Although Wei Wuxian had come here with his head held high, he couldn't stand hearing such sounds, and he involuntarily took several steps back. The dog turned its head and saw him carrying Jin Ling, so it spread its legs and pounced on him. Wei Wuxian screamed, and when he was about to throw Jin Ling out, Lan Wangji stepped in front of him.

The black-maned spirit dog immediately stopped and tucked its tail between its legs. It didn't stick out its tongue because it had something in its mouth. Lan Wangji walked over, bent down, and took out a piece of cloth from between its teeth. He handed it back to Wei Wuxian to see. It seemed to be a piece of clothing. There must have been at least one person wandering around here or spying, and his behavior was suspicious, otherwise the barking of the black-maned spirit dog would not be full of hostility. Wei Wuxian said, "The person hasn't gone far. Chase him!"

Lan Wangji said, “No need. I know who it is.”

Wei WuXian said, “I know that too. The people who spread rumors, released the corpses, set up the maze, and built the stone fort at Xinglu Ridge must be the same group of people. And there are also those knives. But if we don’t catch them in the act now, it will be troublesome to catch them later.”

Lan Wangji said, "I'll chase. You and Jin Ling?"

Wei WuXian said, “I will take him down Luling and return to Qinghe to find a place to settle down. It will be where we met the doctor before. We will meet there.”

This conversation was very quick. Lan Wangji only paused for a moment before Wei Wuxian said, “Go ahead. If you’re any later, they’ll have already run away. I’ll be there!”

Hearing the words “I’ll come”, Lan Wangji gave him a deep look, said no more, and turned to leave. The black-maned spirit dog tried to pounce on him again, and Wei Wuxian screamed, “Wait, wait! Take the dog away! Take the dog away!!!”

Lan Wangji had no choice but to turn back and look down at the black-maned spirit dog. It didn't dare to disobey and followed Lan Wangji with a howl, chasing after him and looking back at Jin Ling from time to time. Wei Wuxian wiped his sweat, looked back at the group of white stone forts, carried Jin Ling on his back again, and went down Xinglu Ridge.

It was almost dusk, and he was carrying an unconscious boy on his back. Both of them were covered in mud and looked rather miserable, attracting the attention of passersby. Wei Wuxian returned to the street where Jin Ling had chased him with his dog during the day, found an inn, used the money he had taken from Lan Wangji to buy two new sets of clothes, and asked for a room. He first took off Jin Ling's Jinxing Xuelang family pattern robe, which had become wrinkled from being buried in the dirt, and then pulled off his boots, and suddenly stopped.

There seemed to be a shadow on Jin Ling's calf. Wei Wuxian squatted down and rolled up his trouser legs, and found that it was not a shadow, but a black bruise. And it was not the bruise caused by injury, but the mark of an evil curse.

The evil curse mark is a mark made by evil spirits on their prey. Once it appears, it means that the person has run into something extremely evil. It leaves a mark and will definitely come back to find you. It may come a long time later, or it may come tonight. At the very least, it will take away the body part with the mark, and at the worst, it will simply take your life.

Jin Ling's entire leg had turned black, and the marks were still extending upwards. Wei Wuxian had never seen such a dark, spreading evil curse mark before, and the more he looked at it, the more solemn his expression became. He let down Jin Ling's trouser legs and unbuttoned Jin Ling's shirt, and saw that his chest and abdomen were smooth and the evil curse mark had not spread there, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Jin Ling opened his eyes.

He was stunned for a long time, his naked body exposed to the cold wind on all sides, and suddenly he woke up, jumped up, and roared with a red face: "What are you doing!"

Wei WuXian smiled and said, “Oh, you’re awake.”

Jin Ling seemed to be greatly frightened. He closed his shirt and shrank to the corner of the bed, saying, "What do you want to do! Where are my clothes?! Where is my sword?! Where is my dog?!"

Wei WuXian said, “I was just about to put it on you.”

His expression and tone were as kind as an old grandmother who was about to buy winter clothes for her grandson. Jin Ling, with his hair disheveled, leaned against the wall and said, "I'm not gay!!!"

Wei WuXian was overjoyed and said, “What a coincidence, I am!!!”

Jin Ling grabbed his sword beside the bed, as if he would kill him if he took another step forward, and then commit suicide to preserve his innocence. Wei Wuxian finally stopped laughing, and said with a laugh, "Why are you so scared? It's just a joke! I worked so hard to dig you out of the wall, and you didn't even say thank you."

Jin Ling took a moment to smooth over his messy hair, making it look more respectable, and angrily said, "If it weren't for this, if you dared to take off my clothes, I would have killed you ten thousand times!"

Wei WuXian said, “Don’t. Dying once is painful enough. Alright, alright, put the sword down.”

Confused, Jin Ling put down the sword as he was told.

When he was asking the spirit, although his soul had left his body and he could not remember anything clearly, he vaguely knew that it was the person in front of him who dug him out and carried him all the way down the mountain. After being buried in the wall, he was still conscious for a while. He was so terrified and desperate that he could not bear it any more. He did not expect that the one who broke the wall and broke the fear and despair was actually the person he hated so much at first sight. His face turned pale and red, and he felt dizzy and embarrassed. His thoughts were still floating and could not land on the ground. Suddenly, he glanced out the window and saw that the sky outside was dark and there were sparse stars. He was immediately startled. It happened that Wei Wuxian bent down to pick up the new clothes scattered on the ground. Jin Ling jumped out of bed, put on his boots, grabbed his outer robe and rushed out of the room.

Wei Wuxian thought that he would be depressed for a while after such a great ordeal, but he didn't expect that young people are full of energy and he was alive and kicking in the blink of an eye. Thinking of the serious curse mark on his leg, he shouted: "Why are you running! Come back!"

As Jin Ling ran, he put on his muddy and wrinkled robe with family patterns and shouted, "Don't follow me!" He was light and nimble, and rushed down the stairs and out of the inn in two or three steps. Wei Wuxian chased him for several blocks, but he was completely out of sight.

After searching for a while, dusk fell and the number of people on the street gradually thinned out. Wei WuXian felt his teeth itching: "How ridiculous! This kid is really ridiculous!"

As a last resort, just when I was about to give up, a young man's angry voice came from the end of the long street ahead: "I said a few words to you and you ran away. Are you a young lady? Your temper is getting worse and worse!"

Jiang Cheng! If I could love novels like this

Wei WuXian quickly dodged into the alley. Immediately, Jin Ling's voice also rang out: "I'm back safe and sound, aren't I? Stop nagging me!"

It turns out that Jin Ling did not come to Qinghe alone. No wonder, Jiang Cheng came to support him last time at Dafan Mountain, so why would he not come this time? It seems that the uncle and nephew had a quarrel in Qinghe Town, so Jin Ling went to Xinglu Ridge alone. He was in a hurry to run just now, and Jiang Cheng must have threatened him that if he didn't return before dark, he would be in trouble.

Jiang Cheng said, "Nothing? You look like you just rolled in a mud ditch. You call that nothing? Isn't it embarrassing to wear your school uniform? Go back and change your clothes! Tell me, what happened today?"

Jin Ling said impatiently, "I told you, I didn't encounter anything. I fell down and it was all in vain. Ouch!" He yelled, "Don't pull me like that! I'm not three years old!"

Jiang Cheng said sternly, "I can't control you anymore! I tell you, even if you are thirty years old, I can still hold you back. If you dare to run around without saying hello next time, I will whip you!"

Jin Ling said: "I went alone because I didn't want anyone to help me or to control me."

Wei WuXian thought, “Let’s not talk about anything else, Jiang Cheng scolded him for having a spoiled little girl’s temper, which was really true.”

Jiang Cheng asked, "So what's going on now? What did you catch? Where's the black-maned spirit dog your uncle gave you?"

Lan Zhan chased him to some unknown corner. Just as Wei Wuxian was thinking this, two familiar dog barks were heard from the other end of the alley.

Wei Wuxian's face turned pale with rage, his legs moved spontaneously, and he rushed out like a poisonous arrow chasing its tail. The black-maned spirit dog ran over from the other end of the alley, passed Wei Wuxian, pounced at Jin Ling's legs, and swept him with its tail affectionately.

Since the dog appeared here, it meant that Lan Wangji had probably already caught the spy near the stone fort and went to the place they designated to meet. However, at the moment, Wei Wuxian had no time to think about these things.

When he rushed forward, he happened to rush in front of Jiang Cheng, Jin Ling, and a large number of Jiang family disciples.

The two sides were in a stalemate for a moment, and Wei Wuxian silently turned around and ran away.

After running a few steps, he heard a crackling sound, and a purple electric current jumped and wrapped around his calf like a poisonous snake. A wave of numbness and itchiness flowed from bottom to top throughout his body, and he was pulled back and fell to the ground immediately. Then his chest tightened, and someone lifted him up by the back of his clothes. Wei Wuxian reacted quickly and tried to find the soul-locking bag, but it was snatched away first.

Jiang Cheng carried him and walked a few steps to the door of the nearest store, and kicked open the half-closed door.

The store was about to close, when suddenly a handsome young man with elegant clothes and a bad look kicked the door and walked in, holding a person in his hand, as if he was going to dissect the person in public. He was so scared that he dared not say a word. A disciple came up and whispered a few words to him, stuffed silver into his pocket, and he quickly hid in the back hall and never came out again. Without any explanation, several Jiang's disciples dispersed in an instant, surrounding the store inside and outside.

Jin Ling stood aside, his eyes full of hesitation and doubt. Jiang Cheng said to him fiercely: "I'll deal with you later, stay here!"

Jin Ling had never seen this kind of expression on Jiang Cheng's face since he could remember. His uncle, who was the head of the Yunmeng Jiang Clan, a prestigious immortal family at a young age, was always cold and gloomy. He was neither willing to show mercy nor to do good deeds. At this moment, although he was trying his best to suppress unnecessary expressions, his eyes were terribly bright.

That gloomy face, which was always filled with arrogance, sarcasm, and haze, seemed to have become clearer in every detail, and it was difficult to tell whether it was filled with gnashing teeth, hatred to the bone, or ecstasy.